How to reduce plastic, foil and other kitchen disposables

Disposables have become a mainstay of many American kitchens — plastic baggies, plastic wrap, paper towels, aluminum foil, plastic straws and more. Reducing or even eliminating them can save you money in addition to cutting down on trash that ends up in landfills.

“It’s easy to be overwhelmed by it all, but little differences really do add up,” says Lauryn Tyrell, food editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine.

“I spend about 75 percent of my time in the test kitchen and so I’m an excellent candidate for creating a ton of kitchen waste. But we’ve learned some tricks to reduce the amount of trash we produce,” she says.

PAPER TOWELS

“Keeping paper towel use to a minimum is one of the things Martha Stewart is really serious about,” Tyrell says. Each workspace in the magazine’s test kitchen features cloth tea towels, bar towels (similar to rags) and a roll of select-a-size paper towels, she says. The latter are used sparingly.

Tea towels are great for drying hands or dishes, or folding up to use as a hot mitt. Bar towels can be used for most messes. Paper towels are reserved for messes such as juice from meat or raw egg.

“It helps to have all your towel options in one place, so I’d recommend keeping rags or bar towels near where you keep the paper towels,” Tyrell says. If cloth towels aren’t handy, you probably won’t use them, she advises.

PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS

Carry your own canvas or string tote bags for groceries and other purchases. The key is to keep them handy.

Americans throw away around 100 billion plastic bags a year, she says.

PLASTIC PRODUCE BAGS

Avoid plastic produce bags by keeping a few lightweight mesh bags — often sold as “multi-use straining bags” — in your purse when you head to the grocery store, Tyrell says.

“They’re also great for making nut milks or straining yogurt,” she adds.

If your grocery store doesn’t use compostable produce bags, you can always take some of your own.

PLASTIC BAGGIES

There are a variety of new products that can be used as alternatives to baggies. Broxson, at Real Simple, recommends one called Stashers. They’re like zip-top plastic bags but are made of Silicon, and can be washed in the dishwasher and reused. They are watertight, and can go from freezer to microwave.

PLASTIC WRAP

Broxson and Tyrell recommend Bee’s Wrap as an alternative to typical plastic cling wrap. It’s made of fabric coated in a mixture of wax, oil and tree resin, and sticks to the top of bowls and jars. Similar to plastic wrap, it conforms to all sorts of shapes. Unlike plastic wrap, it can be washed and reused, and remains sticky for months, Bronson says.

ALUMINUM FOIL

One foil alternative is parchment paper.

“If you must use aluminum foil, you can wad it up into a ball and reuse it as a scouring sponge for baking dishes to get one more use out of it before throwing it away,” she suggests. Clean aluminum foil can be recycled if it’s free from food residue. And many stores now sell recycled aluminum foil. The test kitchens at Martha Stewart Living have switched from plastic to stainless-steel straws, Tyrell says.

“I carry my own titanium fork and spoon, with a nylon connector so they can even be used as tongs. They’re super-lightweight, and kind of cool,” she says. “Way nicer than plastic.”